Our Story

Time Line

Legacy in the Land

Young Farms is more than a family farm. It is the story of one piece of California ground that has remained in agricultural production for more than 157 years. While the names on the deeds have changed, the purpose of the land has remained remarkably constant. Every generation has added its own chapter, building upon the work of those before it while preparing the land for those yet to come.

May 3, 1869 | A Federal Land Patent

The story of Young Farms begins on May 3, 1869, when Joseph Stewart received an 80-acre federal land patent from the United States Government for the East Half of the Northeast Quarter (E½ NE¼), Section 21, Township 3 South, Range 10 East, Mount Diablo Meridian.

California had been a state for only nineteen years, and Stanislaus County itself was just seventeen years old. The surrounding valley consisted primarily of open rangeland, seasonal wetlands, and scattered homesteads connected by wagon roads.

Without irrigation, the land relied entirely upon winter rainfall and windmills for water. Stewart established the property with cattle and wheat, the dominant agricultural commodities of California's young Central Valley. The soils that support Young Farms today first entered cultivation during this period.

1870s-1880s | Agriculture Takes Root

For the next several decades, the property remained devoted to livestock and grain production while agriculture steadily expanded throughout Stanislaus County.

Wheat fields stretched across the valley, cattle grazed the native grasslands, and farming remained at the mercy of the weather. Every successful harvest depended on the timing of winter rain, making drought a constant concern.

Although little changed on the property itself, the future of California agriculture was quietly taking shape.

1887 | The Vision for Irrigation

In 1887, local farmers organized the Modesto Irrigation District under California's Wright Irrigation Act, making it one of the earliest irrigation districts established in the state.

Their vision was ambitious: capture Sierra Nevada snowmelt and deliver dependable water across thousands of acres of dry farmland.

Although irrigation had not yet reached the property, its future had already begun to change.

1903 | The Shoemake Family

By 1903, ownership had passed to William Shoemake, who continued cultivating grain across the property.

That same year, water first entered the Modesto Canal, marking the beginning of one of the greatest agricultural transformations in California history.

1906 | Water Changes Everything

In 1906, ownership transferred to A.B. and Louisa Shoemake, who expanded production beyond grain into beans, seed crops, and livestock feedstocks, likely supporting the family's milling operation.

The same year forever changed the property.

As the Modesto Irrigation District expanded, irrigation water crossed Dry Creek by flume, bringing dependable water to this portion of the valley for the first time. One of the property's primary irrigation ditches became part of the growing canal network, carrying water westward to neighboring farms and helping transform the surrounding countryside into productive agricultural land.

Land that had once depended solely upon winter rainfall could now reliably support diverse crops, permanently changing the future of the property.

1910-1920 | A Growing Agricultural Community

As irrigation spread across the valley, agriculture flourished.

Large portions of the surrounding acreage were sold by Louisa Shoemake and eventually became part of the farming operation of Frank Albers.

Albers continued the area's agricultural tradition through grain and livestock feedstock production, while leasing portions of the surrounding land to neighboring farmers. Ownership boundaries shifted over time, but the fields themselves remained productive.

Generation after generation, the land continued to provide food, feed, and opportunity.

1921 | The Boone Years

A new chapter began in 1921, when Ezra Thomas Boone purchased the Southeast Quarter of the Northeast Quarter, the heart of today's Young Farms, along with the land that follows the canal northernly.

Boone traveled west from Missouri, drawn by California's expanding agricultural opportunities and dependable irrigation system. He established cattle on portions of the property while maintaining grain fields and orchards surrounding the family home.

The land continued to evolve while remaining rooted in the traditions of working agriculture.

1930s | Through the Great Depression

The Great Depression challenged farms across America, yet the property continued producing.

Like countless California farms, livestock and field crops remained essential to supporting both the land and the families who depended upon it.

Agriculture endured because it had to.

1940s | Wartime Stewardship and New Beginnings

During World War II, the Boone family relocated from the property to what is now Ceres, California. Although living elsewhere, Ezra Thomas Boone never sold the land. He retained ownership and continued managing the property until stewardship passed to the Young family decades later.

The 1940s also marked the beginning of another family story that would eventually become part of Young Farms.

Like thousands of families seeking opportunity during the Dust Bowl migration, members of the Owens, Popplewell, Gouge families journeyed west from Oklahoma and Texas, settling in the Modesto area. This branch of the family shares a connection to Florence Owens-Thompson, whose portrait, Migrant Mother, became one of the most recognized images of the Great Depression and the resilience of migrant families.

The Young family arrived in California during this same era, although under different circumstances. Rather than arriving as displaced migrant laborers, they established themselves in South Modesto with property located near what is now Hatch Road and Olivero Road.

Though their journeys to California were different, both families were ultimately drawn west by the promise of opportunity, hard work, and agriculture. Their stories would eventually converge, becoming part of the legacy that continues at Young Farms today.

1950s-1960s | Modern Agriculture

Mechanization steadily transformed California farming.

Almost all Horse-drawn equipment gave way to tractors.

Improved irrigation increased reliability.

Modern equipment replaced much of the labor once required by hand.

The property adapted alongside these advances while remaining committed to livestock, grain, orchards, and open agricultural space.

1971 | The Young Family

In 1971, stewardship of the property passed to the Young family.

E.T. Boone sold his land to Henry Homen and J.M Young. Homen didn’t want all the acreage and split his in half. The latter 20-acres became our homesite and the center of the farm, with a modest home, workshop, orchard, and pasture- Young Farms was on the map.

1970s-1990s | A Working Family Farm

For the next three decades, the property remained an active and diversified family farm.

Cattle grazed the pastures.

Poultry roamed the property.

An orchard matured and eventually being removed.

The property's seasonal marsh remained untouched, providing valuable habitat for quail, pheasants, ducks, fish, amphibians, pollinators, and countless native species.

During the 1980s, plans were developed to transform the marsh into a permanent pond. Although never completed, that vision would remain alive for future generations.

Around the same time, the historic irrigation ditch that had served neighboring farms for decades was relocated approximately 50 feet south, quietly marking another evolution in the area's irrigation infrastructure.

Conservation was never viewed as a movement.

It was simply the way the land was cared for. Wildflowers were left to bloom.

Integrated pest management was welcomed. Wildlife remained part of the farm.

Long before phrases such as regenerative agriculture or soil health became common, stewardship meant leaving the land better than it had been found.

2008 | The Fourth Generation

At just 13 years old, the fourth generation began decision-making alongside family and not just labor and learning.

Livestock management. Hay production. Poultry care.
Equipment operation. Fencing. Irrigation.
Decisions needed to be made.

The countless lessons that can only be learned through years spent working the land.

Those experiences soon extended beyond the property, helping neighboring landowners establish their own agricultural operations and proving that agriculture has a remarkable way of turning neighbors into family. 

2015-2020 | Experience Beyond the Farm

Beginning in 2015, college and professional careers temporarily shifted attention away from daily farming.

Years spent working throughout California in agronomy, soil science, irrigation management, environmental compliance, and conservation provided a new understanding of the very land where those lessons first began.

By 2017, farming activity slowed.

Following residence change in 2018, much of the property entered a quieter chapter despite remaining irrigated.

In 2020, following the passing of the family patriarch, stewardship once again passed to a new generation.

2021-2023 | Restoration Begins

Restoration began in 2021.

Professional knowledge returned home with a single purpose: preparing the farm for the next century.

2022-23
Through literal blood, sweat, and tears, years of neglect began to disappear. Brush was cleared, abandoned infrastructure was uncovered, fences were repaired, equipment returned to the property, and the foundation was laid for bringing the farm back into production. As the property once again took shape, attention shifted from restoration to stewardship.

Drawing upon professional experience in agronomy, soil science, irrigation management, and conservation, long-term projects began taking root across the farm.

Groundwater recharge became part of future planning.

Native wildflower and grass seed was distributed to provide forage for pollinators and beneficial insects while improving soil health.

Native oak trees and shrubs were planted with the understanding that many will outlive those planting them, becoming part of the farm's legacy for generations to come.

For the first time in many years, the future of the property was no longer measured by restoring what had been lost, but by building what could still become.

2024-Present | A New Chapter

By 2024, the focus shifted from restoration to long-term resilience.

Seasonal vegetable production returned to portions of the property, reconnecting the land with one of its oldest traditions.

A major irrigation failure temporarily halted many restoration efforts, requiring the complete repair and modernization of sections of the irrigation system, the land fallowed. While an unexpected setback, the improvements ultimately strengthened the farm's long-term water infrastructure, and proved the farm was resilient as spring came.

Native wildflower plantings continued to expand, providing increasingly diverse habitat for bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects.

The property's seasonal marsh entered active management, balancing wildlife habitat with preparations for its eventual restoration into the pond first envisioned decades earlier by the family patriarch.

Additional native oak trees were planted throughout the property, representing an investment that will continue growing long after today's generation is gone.

Every improvement reflects a commitment not simply to farming the land, but to improving its ecological health while preserving its agricultural future.

This was never intended to be a single restoration project.

It was the beginning of the next chapter.

The Future | The Next Chapter

The next chapter of Young Farms is already underway. With a new generation eager to learn, one day it too shall be theirs.

As the farm continues to evolve, future efforts will focus on habitat restoration, regenerative agriculture, groundwater recharge, improved irrigation, and preserving this land for generations yet to come.

Each generation inherits the land only briefly. Our responsibility is to leave it better for the next.